To ensure their clients comply with the new harmonised Work Health and Safety laws, recruiters should build an agreement to consult and cooperate into their terms of business, says legal expert Amy Towers.
Speaking at an RCSA breakfast this week, Towers, work safety managing consultant at law firm FCB, said one of the most critical changes under the new legislation was the requirement for persons who conduct a business or undertaking (PCBUs) to consult, cooperate and coordinate with other PCBUs, to ensure compliance.
(Both labour hire companies and host employers fall under the PCBU label, as do contractor management and payroll firms - and all parties share responsibility for safety violations.)
She said the best way to ensure the host employer held up their end of the compliance bargain was to include explicit arrangements for consultation in the contract, and ensure the main client contact was aware of them.
Towers said a good "consultation plan" to insert into the contract would name the PCBUs in the arrangement; the party who exercised the main influence or control over the worksite; and would also cover how the labour hire company would be contacted in the event of an incident; and what circumstances constituted such an incident.
"That way it's very clear from the start what is expected, and it should assist in avoiding any issues down the track," she said.
RCSA policy advisor and FCB partner Charles Cameron told the breakfast the new laws would change the dynamic of the relationship between recruitment company and client, and recruiters might have to become more choosy about who they worked with.
If the relationship between the on-hire firm and client could be characterised as akin to "going out" in the past, "it's now almost like a de facto relationship", he said.
"You need to make better decisions about who you're actually going to establish a relationship with."
No big compliance push for first year: WorkCover NSW
WorkCover NSW principal policy officer Michael Costello told the breakfast NSW labour hire employers could expect a year of breathing space before WorkCover began to crack down on breaches of the new laws.
He said that, particularly for industries that faced big changes, including labour hire, WorkCover's policy was to provide advice, information and support for the first year.
"If there are significant breaches we'll do something about it, but our main focus will be first of all [advice and education]," he said.